Learn from Bloggers: Meet Ivan Jose of Ivankhristravels

If you want to learn more about blogging, the best way is to learn from others. In this series of articles, “portrait of a blogger”, I am choosing an advanced Filipino blogger to tell you about their tips, mistakes and own insights about their blogging journey. And this to help yours. As they took the time to answer those questions, I am thanking them in advance, and I am inviting you to check their website and work.

Today, we are with….

Who are you?

My name is Ivan Jose and I am currently working full time as a product manager in a bank. I blog as a hobby and mainly to improve my writing skills.  

What is your blog about?

My blog name is Ivan + Khris’ Travels: Ivankhristravels. I wanted it to be a couple travel blog but it has eventually evolved to be a family travel and lifestyle blog.

Since becoming a father a year ago, I started to write about our parenting adventures.

When and why did you start this blog?

I started blogging way back in 2006. I wanted to write about my home province of Nueva Ecija then I went on document my travels around Metro Manila from time to time.

It was really just a hobby, an outlet to help me forget about the stresses brought about by my corporate job.

As I had mentioned earlier, I also started blogging to improve my writing.

Technical question: what hosting service and what blogging platform do you use?

I currently use Blogger. It was actually quite a journey because I started in Blogger, then went to WordPress.com.

What happened is that I moved my blog to a self-hosted platform where I was at for two years before deciding to go back to Blogger just recently. Crazy? Not really.

Then, I realized that I do not need all the features of a self-hosted blog plus I wanted to simplify things.

Now, I believe Blogger is one of the best blogging platforms out there, and it does the job really well. I have been using a custom domain since 2015 though.

Which social media do you use and why?

I use Facebook, and Instagram, and sometimes Twitter.

I am not really so active in social media. I use Facebook mainly to get blogging gigs and to promote my blog articles.

Instagram used to be fun but not as much anymore. I think it has lost its genuineness. 

Some stats about your blog & social media

My Facebook page has around 2.1K likes, while I have about 2.4K followers on Instagram. As per my blog, I’m currently working my SEO to increase significantly my traffic.S

What is your greatest achievement since the beginning of your blogging journey?

It’s being able to learn the technical aspects of blogging. When I was starting, I do not even know how to put a sidebar widget.

Now, I am fairly comfortable in tinkering with the code of my blog.

What is your greatest failure (or worst experience) as well?

None so far. I am enjoying every bit of my blogging journey.

What would your advice to people who want to start blogging or who are new into blogging?

Just go for it. Do it because you love it, not because you want to make money out of it or you want to become famous. Those things do not happen overnight, you have to work hard for it. Otherwise, you will burn out easily.

Who are the bloggers you follow and why?

I love bloggers who write really well. Locally, I like Pinoy Adventurista, Jon to the World, The Jerny, Travel with Maria. I also like A Dangerous Business and Migrationology.

Food blogs are also fun to read but my favorite is Jessica Gavin because I like how she incorporates science facts and trivia in her articles.

Any last word to say to the readers? 

If you would like to start a blog, just go for it. It’s really one of the best hobbies that you can embark on.

But don’t devote all your time in front of a computer all smartphone! The best moments are spent offline with the people who matter to you.

I love spending time at home with my wife and son. I could spend a day just playing with my little boy. Balance is the key to being happy.

If you want to know more about this travel blogger, feel free to visit their website. And leave a comment if you like that article 🙂